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MOD seeks innovative defence ideas

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is encouraging small and big businesses to team up to develop innovative ideas for the defence and security of the UK.

To move things along, a Marketplace event has been hosted in London by the Centre for Defence Enterprise (CDE), part of the MOD’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.

CDE funds research into novel, high-risk, high-potential-benefit innovations and more than 20 small and medium-sized enterprises backed by CDE had the opportunity to pitch their ideas and early-stage products to some of the world’s biggest defence companies and investors. Ideas ranged from ways to combat the cyber insider threat to casualty care on the battlefield.

Since CDE was established in 2008 it has received over 5,000 research proposals and funded over 900 to the value of £55 million. Around 70% of CDE-funded contracts have gone to SMEs and innovators in academia.